The Third Place

Housing

Initial findings show that Montgomery County’s housing market is unbalanced, particularly for low-income residents Low income residents in Montgomery County face a shortage of rental units matching their ability to pay, according to an ongoing study of rental housing. So far, the study has found that the existing rental housing market in the county is unbalanced at both the lowest and highest ends of the market. The market is short 20,000 units priced appropriately for households earning less than 30 percent of area median income (AMI) or $28,900. In addition, it is short 13,000 units priced to target households earning more than 120 percent of the area median income or $115,560. Figure 1.) Supply/Demand Equilibrium for All Rental Units… Read more »

On Housing A report from the Brookings Institution: restrictive (read, “exclusionary”) zoning may lead to lower test scores for kids. “As the nation grapples with the growing gap between rich and poor and an economy increasingly reliant on formal education, public policies should address housing market regulations that prohibit all but the very affluent from enrolling their children in high-scoring public schools in order to promote individual social mobility and broader economic security.” Report. An analysis by US Today shows the recession accelerated trends towards urbanization. “The shift to more urban housing development has been growing slowly during the past couple of decades and thanks to the recession and housing crash, this trend has accelerated. It is probable that the… Read more »

THE THIRD PLACE

In planning, the third place is the social realm separate from home and the workplace.
It provides an inclusive forum for dialogue crucial for civic engagement and community building.

Categories

About

The Planning Department has provided this blog as a vehicle for staff to submit individual posts. Opinions and conclusions in this post are solely those of the author, and neither the Planning Department nor the Planning Board has adopted the opinions or conclusions unless otherwise indicated.